Argentina: A Cigar-Shaped UFO in 1948 – a Corroboration of the Chiles-Whitted Case?

 

 

Argentina: A Cigar-Shaped UFO in 1948 – a Corroboration of the Chiles-Whitted Case?

Letter from Roberto A. Consentino appearing in Crónica del Fenómeno OVNI (1990s)

 “Today I have decided to tell about what I saw nearly 52 years ago. But first a little background so that you may know where I was when it occurred. I did my military service at the Tandil air force base in the Province of Buenos Aires in 1948. The base was still under construction and the runway was yet to be paved. The government had purchased 100 Gloster Meteor fighters from England, used at the end of World War Two to intercept V-1 and V-2 rockets the Germans were firing against England. It was unlikely that these planes would ever be used here, but our government wanted to show them off in the annual 9^th of July parade in Buenos Aires. Thus, some 20 airplanes were sent to Ezeiza Airport, which was also under construction, but had a 3000-meter long runway, with the purpose of performing formation flight exercises, as the only experience the pilots had had was in England, where they were trained in their use, and it should be noted that they were congratulated for their skill and daring. Among others, I remember Captain Soto, Lt. Martínez Zuviría and Ensign Giménez.

“But back to me. Once the 3 month training program was completed, I was sent to the recruitment and discharge office, but in the month of May, tasks pursuant to the recruitment of conscripts had drawn to a close. Preparations were being made at the time for transferring troops and equipment to Ezeiza and I managed to get them to send me. I was living in Temperley at the time, only a few minutes distant. In early June, we were transferred to the airport where the training took place, and I served as an assistant mechanic with another six or seven recruits.

 “Once the 9^th of July parade was over, the assistants were given a few days leave and when we returned around July 20, we were made to stand guard, as the conscripts detailed to that assignment were going off on their leave.

 “It was during one of those nights on sentry duty, standing next to those airplanes with my back to them, at around one o’clock in the morning and looking north, I saw a very bright white light that became longer as it grew closer, as it was a “flying cigar” – the name given to them later on. I passed quite close to me; I figure some 500 meters distant and 30 degrees over the horizon. It was a clear night and I was able to see its outline clearly. It was truly a flying cigar. The illuminated part was approximately 1/4^th of its height and 3/4^th of its length. It appeared as a single luminous band, whose intensity did not allow for a view of its several possible segments. It was some 50 meters long and some 10 meters tall, which I calculated by comparing it to aircraft at a similar estimated distance. The sighting lasted some 30 seconds, during which it covered about 15 to 20 kilometers. Its speed, therefore, would have been some 2000 kmh, twice the speed achieved by the aircraft I was guarding at the time with a 1914 Mauser rifle.

 “The craft made no noise whatsoever, nor did it leave a wake. I was at the right place for making comparisons between our planet’s aircraft and those visiting us. The fastest passenger plane at the time was the COMET 4, which attained a speed similar to the Gloster Meteor, and both made a hellish racket with their turbines. I spoke of this experience only with relatives and friends. I did not alert the guard because at that time I would have been punished for lying, even if they knew I wasn’t.

“Some 15 years ago I attended a theater in the city of Junín where Fabio Zerpa was lecturing about UFOs. I sat in the front row and then stood beside him when I considered the time to be right. I wanted to tell him about by experience, but he gestured me to sit down and went on with his show.

“In another instance, when Antonio Las Heras was giving a lecture at an ATC office, I wanted to tell my story to a lady who works with him. She asked me if I had any corroborating witnesses. When I said that I didn’t, that I was alone, she replied: “Then it’s no good.”

 “Luis Burgos did hear me out when he had his office on Carlos Calvo street in Buenos Aires. Those who didn’t listen to me could ascertain that the witnesses were in the United States, and were Captain C.S. Chiles and his co-pilot J.B. Whitted, who were flying a DC-3 over Alabama on July 23 1948 – a date that coincides exactly with my sighting. They had an experience involving a craft that must have been the same I had the privilege to see. For further details, please see the report by Asdrubal Acosta on page 10 of No. 25 of this supplement.

 “Before this experience I firmly believed there must be intelligent life on other planets…or were the millions of stars just there to adorn our night skies? After my experience that night, I had no doubt that the craft was not of our world and was crewed by beings that had developed a technology much more advanced than our own. Behind me sat those little airplanes, and before me was that swift and marvelous extraterrestrial craft.”

 [Translation © 2021 S. Corrales, IHU with thanks to Luis Burgos, FAO / ICOU]